oil: 25/50 of 378

The rushed passage of the Infrastructure Bill with all its pro-fracking provisions and toothless 'safeguards' is an abuse of democracy. And as it's manifestly against the national and public interest, it's also in breach of both MPs' and Lords' legally binding Codes of Conduct. Now Jojo Mehta intends to hold them to account - in Court.more...

Montana legislators have brushed off the attempts of farmers, ranchers and landowners to effect 'zoning' regulations to protect them, their land, their water and their livestock from the toxic impacts of fracking. Now they say: 'See you in Court!'.more...

The oil and gas industry has admitted that its canals and drilling rigs have destroyed 1,900 square miles of coastal wetlands on the US Gulf Coast, but a Federal Judge with deep industry ties has ruled that 97 companies off have no liability for the $50 billion damage.more...

A month-long blockade of the Rio Tigre deep in the Peruvian Amazon has secured promises of compensation and cleanup for Peru's Kichwa communities who have suffered 40 years of contaminated waters from oil drilling operations in their remote Amazon region. But until the funds materialize, they are holding firm in their resolve.more...

Current oil price volatility is a symptom of the end of cheap oil, writes Nafeez Ahmed, and it's destablising the entire global economy. The answer is a major shift to renewables - but the the International Energy Agency, which should be leading the transition, is in the grip of nuclear and fossil fuel interests. Instead the leadership must come from us, the people!more...

Faced with climate change, economic doldrums and collapsing oil prices, the government has the perfect opportunity to put Britain on the right track, write Simon Bullock & Tony Bosworth - reduce our dependency on fossil fuels, and invest in renewables and efficiency. So what's it actually doing? The exact opposite.more...

A wide-ranging academic study of civil wars in 69 countries from 1945 to 1999 finds that the likelihood of outside intervention increases when the country at war has large reserves of oil, and a potential intervener needs to secure oil imports on favourable terms to meet domestic demand.more...

In the face of environmental atrocities like the recent spill of crude oil into the Yellowstone River, writes Grant Mincy, quiescence be damned! To stop more of the same, we must reclaim from the corporate-captured state the rights of commons and community to decide on how local resources are used.more...

The Environmental Audit Committee today calls for shale fracking in the UK to be 'put on hold', writes Paul Mobbs. But the EAC is missing an even more dangerous technology that the Infrastructure Bill would support - underground coal gasification.more...

oil: 25/50 of 378

The global economic shake-down of low oil prices continues apace, writes Alexander Reid Ross, causing environmentalists to celebrate the collapse of dirty energy projects. But the oil price collapse is the manifestation of a multi-layered conflict being fought out on the political, military and ideological battlefields of the Middle East - and it may not last much longer.more...

The Information Tribunal has ordered Tate, the charity which runs two of London's biggest art galleries, to release details of financial support from the oil company BP, writes Richard Heasman - and they have until 27th January to comply.more...

With 80% of the world's fossil fuel reserves 'unburnable' if the world is to meet its climate targets, writes Melanie Mattauch, the divestment movement is moving from strength to strength. As investor confidence in fossil energy ebbs away, 2015 is where the endgame for a dying industry begins.more...

The UK's financing of fossil fuels abroad increased tenfold in two years to exceed £1 billion in 2013 / 2014, writes Christine Ottery. Incredibly, the fossil fuel funding increase came after a government promise to use the money to support 'innovative and green technologies'.more...

For the world to meet its climate goals, a third of the world's oil, half its gas and 80% of its coal must stay underground, writes Alex Kirby. And it's not us saying it - but scientists writing in the journal Nature.more...

Low oil prices are putting a stop to some of the world's most environmentally damaging 'extreme energy' projects, writes Paul Mobbs, and may close down the entire fracking and tar sands industries. So why are so many 'Greens' issuing dire warnings, instead of celebrating the good news? more...

A massive oil spill in the oil-rich Niger Delta in 2008 has caused years of environmental and economic devastation. But only after legal action in London has Shell been forced to reveal the truth, admit liability, pay compensation, and begin the clean-up.more...

Increased production from US fracking operations is a major reason for the drop in oil prices, writes Kieran Cooke. But there are warnings that the industry now faces an existential crisis from which it may never recover, as the financial sector faces the prospect of worthless shares and $100s of billions of defaulted debt.more...

Bangladesh's Sundarbans forest, home of incredibly rich biodiversity, is under unprecedented threat, writes ASMG Kibria. The recent oil tanker capsize on the Shela river puts the forest at risk of widespread biodiversity loss, but just this week, the authorities re-opened the Shela river to shipping with no restrictions on hazardous cargoes.more...

The government appears as determined as ever to push ahead with fracking as a central plank of its energy policy, writes Richard Heasman - ignoring growing evidence of health and environmental harm. But with the economics of fracking undermined by heavy energy price falls, the UK industry may never get off the ground.more...

Recent falls in oil prices give 'greens' cause to rethink arguments about 'peak oil' and get back to why they are really opposed to fossil fuels, writes Dr Steve Melia. Ultimately, it's not the economic evidence that drives government decisions - it's the politics!more...

More than 25 million Americans live within an 'oil train blast zone', writes Ralph Nader. But as volumes of tar sands and shale oil carried by train soar, the oil cars identified as a 'substantial danger to life, property, and the environment' in 1991 remain in use. We must ban those dangerous railcars - and put an end to all 'extreme oil'.more...

A new financial crisis is threatening to dwarf the 'subprime' mortgage debacle, writes Paul Mobbs. Cheap money from central banks has fuelled some $1.3 trillion of risky investments in high-cost 'unconventional' oil and gas. Now, with oil sinking below $60, all that paper is turning to junk - and that's putting the entire economic system at risk.more...